Sora vs Rep
by hurkydoesntknow
Summary: Sequel to Riku vs. Rep, after Riku's evil twin brother Rep is home for the summer, Riku falls mysteriously ill and Sora suspects Rep. Can he stop him? Find out!
1. The early days

**Hurky: Hey everyone and here's the sequel to Riku vs. Rep!**

**Readers: YAY!**

**Riku: Do I square off against Rep again?**

**Hurky: No, but Sora does.**

**Sora: Yeah, that's why it's called Sora vs. Rep.**

**Hurky: Alright, now onto the story! **

**Disclaimer: Hurky doesn't own Kingdom Hearts 1 or 2, plsus Ryo or Alexa.**

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**March 25th, 1991, when Riku met Sora...**

A woman with long, silver hair that was permed and a man with long-ish light blonde hair were walking on the steps of the Hart house on a warm spring day. The day seemed normal but it was also a joyous occasion. The Hart family had just had their second child on the 12th, but the Thompsons were out of town so they couldn't visit the newborn until now. The man and woman were each holding a one-year old baby with silver hair, rosy cheeks, and both wearing blue overalls, but with different colored shirts, one was wearing a blue shirt and the other wore a red shirt, plus blue Converse shoes. They were twins, Riku and Ryan. They were able to say a few words at this point and Ryan had been walking for five months while Riku had just learned to walk around his first birthday.

"...I heard from Mrs. Tilmitt that he is a very beautiful baby." said the mother, Mrs. Thompson as she stopped on the steps holding Ryan, the one in the red shirt. She rang the doorbell and it was immediately answered by Mr. Hart, who gestured them to come inside.

"So where's the baby?" asked Mr. Thompson.

"Maureen's in the baby's room with him." said Mr. Hart, a man with spiky brown hair and brown eyes.

Then, a woman with long brown hair and deep blue eyes walked in, holding a small baby with spiky brown hair and red pajamas. He was asleep, so no one could see his eye color.

"OMG, here he is!" said Mrs. Thompson, walking over to Mrs. Hart.

Mrs. Hart put a finger to her lips. "Shhh, he's sleeping." she said.

"So, what did you name him?" asked Mr. Thompson.

Mrs. Hart smiled. "We named him Sora." she replied. "Sora Christopher Hart."

Then, Sora yawned and opened his eyes, showing that they were bright blue.

"He's got the brightest eyes I've ever seen!" said Mr. Thompson.

After spending about twenty more minutes with Sora, Mrs. Hart decided to put Sora in his bassinet. She and Mrs. Thompson stood there and admired Sora. Riku, who was being held by his mother, stared at Sora, who stared up at Riku. He just drooled. Riku smiled at the baby, showing his new teeth that were still coming in.

"So..ra..." said Riku. He was beginning to like this baby.

Sora just gurgled, since he couldn't really make sounds yet.

"Aw, those two already seem like best friends!" said Mrs. Thompson with a laugh.

Mrs. Hart smiled and picked up Sora again.

An hour later, Mr. Hart was rocking Sora to sleep in the rocking chair while Riku and Ryan watched. Mrs. Hart, Mr.and Mrs. Thompson were in the kitchen. Mr. Hart held a small bottle filled with formula to Sora's mouth while rocking the chair. Sora opened his eyes and looked at Ryan, who he thought was Riku. He was too young to notice two Rikus there. He reached a hand out to Ryan, only to end up biting his finger. Tears welled in Sora's eyes and he began to cry loudly.

"WAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!" wailed Sora with tears streaming down his cheeks.

Sora's mother and Riku's parents rushed in to see why Sora was crying.

"What happened in here?" asked Mrs. Hart.

"Ryan bit Sora." said Mr. Hart.

Mr. Thompson rushed to Ryan and scooped him up while Riku just stood there.

"Ryan, that was bad!" scolded Mr. Thompson. "Very bad!"

Ryan also began to cry. He liked doing bad things but he hated to be scolded for them.

Mrs. Hart took Sora from her husband and comforted him.

"I guess we better get going." said Mrs. Thompson, picking up Riku.

So they did. As the months passed by, Sora grew bigger and he took notice that there were two Rikus. The nice one was Riku while the mean one was Ryan. By the time Sora was about a year old, he knew to stay away from Ryan and stayed close to Riku for protection because he was the only one to stand up against his twin. Their friendship was growing stronger as the days went by...

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**April 23rd, 2000, the day Sora and Riku met Kairi...**

Sora and Riku were now a lot older. Sora was nine and Riku was ten. They were wandering the secret place that Riku had just discovered one day. They had just walked out of it and Riku asked Sora if he wanted to meet the new girl who had just moved onto the islands with her parents, older sister, and her younger brother and sister, who were babies.

"We got a new mayor, right?" asked Riku in his little kid voice. "Well, his family just moved in and there's a girl there about your age. We should go meet her."

"Maybe she can become our friend." said Sora with a smile.

He and Riku hopped onto their bikes and pedaled all the way to where the boats were kept. They rowed back to the residential area and walked all the way to the mayor's neighborhood. They stopped at the mayor's house, where there were a bunch of movers who were moving furniture into the house. There, sitting on a tire swing tied to a tree, was an auburn haired girl wearing a white dress, watching the movers. Sora and Riku walked over to the girl.

"Hi!" said Riku.

The girl turned around and smiled. "Hi." she said.

"You just moved to these islands?" asked Riku.

The girl nodded. "My daddy's the new mayor." she said.

Riku stuck his hand out. "My name's Riku Thompson." he said. He pointed at Sora. "And this is Sora Hart."

The girl smiled and shook Riku's hand and then Sora's. "I'm Kairi McCormick." she said.

"You wanna go hang out at the paopu tree?" asked Riku. "It's a place where Sora and I hang out."

So, Kairi agreed and went to get permission from her parents, which they approved. Her bike wasn't unpacked yet, so she rode with Sora on his bike.

"You seem awfully quiet." Kairi said to Sora, riding on the back of his bike. She stood on the pegs on the back wheel of his bike and held onto Sora's shoulders as she rode.

"I'm just shy around new people." answered Sora. "But I think I've gotten to know you a little more now."

Kairi smiled and watched the tropical scenery pass her by.

They reached the paopu island and showed Kairi around.

"Wow, this place is amazing!" Kairi said in awe.

They sat on the tree for the first time and talked for most of the afternoon. Then, Ryan, who was now called Rep, came to the island.

"Hey, little bro." he said. He saw Kairi. "Who's she?" he asked.

"I'm Kairi!" said Kairi. "My dad's the mayor! What's yours?"

"I'm Ryan, but everyone calls me Rep." said Rep. "I'm Riku's twin brother."

"Evil twin brother." Riku muttered under his breath.

"Your dad's just going to mess up these islands like how the last mayor did!" said Rep.

"He will not!" said Kairi. "My dad was the mayor of Hollow Bastion until last year and he ran it fine."

"We already know that your dad will cut budgets and everything!" said Rep. "People are going to hate your dad."

"Stop it!" cried Kairi, with tears streaming down her cheeks. "Stop insulting my dad!"

This made Riku angry. He pushed Rep off the island.

"Whoaaa!" yelped Rep as he fell into the water. He came up. "I'm telling Mom and Dad!"

"Go ahead!" said Riku. "Mom and Dad won't punish me for you making fun of someone new."

Rep grumbled and swam away to shore.

"Don't worry, Kairi." said Sora. "Don't let him bother you."

"Yeah, I know where he sleeps at night." joked Riku. "I know where to get him then!"

Kairi wiped her tears and smiled...

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**Hurky: I know that might have had nothing to do with the plot but it puts the story together in some ways.**

**Sora: You now know how we all met.**

**Riku: Not really, it's not accurate with the game, but you get the point. **

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	2. Here comes Rep

**Disclaimer: Hurky doesn't own DDR, XBOX, or Spongebob Squarepants.**

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**Summer of 2006...**

Sora, Riku, and Kairi were hanging out at Hurky's house, playing DDR on her XBOX. Ryo and Alexa were also there, too.

"HA!" said Riku, sweaty and out of breath after dancing to Love Shine on heavy and pointing at Hurky. "I beat your score!"

Hurky, a girl with long brown hair and glasses, was sitting on her couch, petting a fat white cat with gray splotches on his face and tail named Vash, her younger brother's cat, whom he brought to Destiny Islands from Wonderland. She sighed. "Well, I just barely started doing anything on heavy mode." she said.

"Let me go next!" said Kairi. "I can so beat your score!"

So, Riku got off the dance mat and joined Hurky on the couch. Kairi was in the middle dancing to a song when the door bell rang. Hurky had to shoo Vash to get up and go to the door. She screamed as soon as she opened it.

"Hey, Turkey Jerky!" said a voice exactly like Riku's.

Riku got up from the couch to the door and found his twin brother, Rep, standing in the doorway. He was wearing a blue t-shirt, jeans, converse shoes, and glasses. He was muscular, like Riku, but he only a little less muscular. Plus, his hair was shorter than Riku's.

"Rep, what are _you _doing here?" demanded Riku in a voice like he saw something that disgusted him. Oh wait, Rep _did_ disgust him.

"Balamb Garden just let us out for summer vacation," explained Rep as he walked into the house. "I could have just stayed in the dorms, but it got too boring there, so I came home!"

He walked into the living room, where Kairi was dancing away on the dance mat until she saw Rep, screamed, and fell.

"Haha, Kairi fell!" laughed Rep.

"That's not funny." said Riku.

Kairi stood up, went to the recliner, sat down, crossed her arms, and pouted.

Riku sighed. He had to get Rep out of here before he made anyone feel any worse. "Come on, Rep, let's go home to see Mom and Dad." he said, pushing Rep towards the door.

Then, he and Rep left and closed the door. They walked down the street to their house and went inside.

"Mom? Dad?" called Riku.

Riku's mother, who looked a little older and her hair was straightened, walked in from the kitchen. "Hi, Riku! I see you found Rep!" she said cheerfully.

Riku rolled his eyes and went to the kitchen. He walked to the fridge and took a soda. Rep walked in and put his hands on his hips.

"Aren't you going to give me a soda, little bro?" asked Rep.

Riku grimaced. He opened the refrigerator again, took another soda, closed it, and gave it to Rep. Then, he walked off.

"What's with Riku?" asked Mrs. Thompson, who had walked in.

"Oh, Riku's just a little edgy because I dragged him from his stupid dancing game." said Rep.

Riku was not. He didn't like the fact that Rep was around at all. Last time he was on the islands, Rep ran Sora down with his car and put him in the hospital. Then, he was kidnapped by Rep and Ryo was also kidnapped, too. Riku had to go rescue them. Finally, in the end, Riku and Rep agreed not to turn no one in, treat Riku's friends like crap or anything.

That night, at dinner, everyone was silent. Mrs. Thompson made her famous lasagna, both a favorite of Riku and Rep, but Riku couldn't eat knowing Rep was in his presence.

"So, uh, there's a sale over at the hardware store for a new barbecue," spoke up Mr. Thompson, whose hair was now in a crew cut. "Maybe we should all go out and take a look at it. I may be able to buy it."

"Whatever." Riku said, spearing a cherry tomato from his salad on his plate.

Mrs. Thompson noticed Riku's uneaten lasagna. "Riku, are you okay?" she asked. "You're not eating your food."

"I'm fine!" snapped Riku. He stood up. "I'm going to bed. May I please be excused?"

His parents let him go. Riku changed into a t-shirt and his pajama bottoms with Spongebob Squarepants on them, brushed his teeth, and then went to his computer and saw that Sora was online. So, they IMed for a little. Riku told Sora about how phony Rep was being and Sora told Riku that he was always like that and then signed off, saying he had to go eat dinner.

Riku shut his computer off and then flopped onto his bed. He lied there, thinking about the past events. Riku had learned about the potion from Marxene, Larxene's mother, that he and Rep drank when they were only a few hours old. That potion had changed their fates before they could even walk and talk. Riku dozed off a few minutes later...

The next morning, Riku woke up feeling cold. He looked outside and saw that the hot sun was blazing outside. Riku picked up his blanket and put it over his shivering body. He fell back asleep.

He was woken several hours later when a blonde haired girl was shaking him.

"Riku, it's time to wake up!" said the girl. "It's noon and your mom wants you up!"

Riku turned to face the girl. "Not now, Ryo." he said in a weak voice. "I don't feel so good."

Ryo went through her purse, took out a thermometer, gently stuck it under Riku's tongue, and waited. Finally, it beeped and Ryo read it.

"Hmm. Ninety nine point two." she said. "That's a fever."

"I'm fine!" denied Riku, sitting up. "See? I'm fine! Nothing's happening to..."

Suddenly, he felt lightheaded and fell forward, closing his green eyes.

"Riku!" cried Ryo, catching Riku.

Everything went black for Riku until he woke up a few minutes later. He sat up.

"Ugh..." he said, rubbing his forehead.

"Riku, you should stay in bed." Ryo said. "You can't be going outside when you're feverish and are having fainting spells."

"I only had one!" said Riku. "The school nurse always tells me I'm fine if my temperature's above normal."

"Because she wants to keep kids in school!" said Ryo. "You're notmally trying to stay in bed."

Riku just got up, went to his bathroom, got dressed in there, and came out. "I'll be alright. It'll go down later." he reassured.

He walked out of his room and Ryo just followed behind him...


	3. Feeling worse

**Disclaimer: Hurky doesn't own MTV or Pimp my Ride.**

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**Riku ate only a small breakfast and then went outside with Ryo to go to Sora's house. He pulled out his car keys and he was about to go to his car but then Ryo stopped him, telling him that if he was feeling sick and getting dizzy, he should not be driving. So, he agreed to walk. Besides, Palm Tree road was not too far from Coconut drive. 

Riku did enjoy the walk a little. He took the time to look at the flowers, the neatly mown lawns, and the palm trees swaying in the breeze. He couldn't normally do that if he was driving because he had to keep an eye on the road at all times. By the time they got to Sora's house, Riku was feeling a little better.

Riku and Ryo walked into Sora's house to find that Kairi, Hurky, and Alexa were also there, too. And they had their fishing rods with them.

"We're going to go fishing on the island," explained Sora. "You guys can come, too. I have some extra fishing rods in the garage."

"Sure, we'll go!" Ryo said excitedly.

Riku dug his hands in the pockets of his yellow vest. He normally enjoyed fishing, but he didn't know if he felt like going today.

Sora got two more fishing rods and then everyone went by boat to the island where Sora, Riku, and Kairi played on as kids and went to the paopu tree to fish. They all sat on the edge and drew the lines to fish. They sat there, enjoying the breeze.

"If I catch any fish, I'm gonna have my mom cook it for dinner!" Kairi said, pushing a few strands of her long auburn hair behind her ear. "She makes the best fried fish!"

Everyone but Riku laughed. He let the cool, refreshing breeze of the ocean blow through his hair.

"I plan on making fish tacos with it!" said Sora. "I know Riku will, too. Right, Riku?"

"Yeah." Riku said.

Alexa leaned forward to get a better look at Riku. "You're awfully quiet today, Riku. Are you okay?" she asked.

"Yeah, you're normally insulting everyone and everything!" said Kairi.

"I'm fine, don't worry, Alexa." Riku said. "I just have a slight fever."

Ryo wished she brought her bag of remedies with her. She knew Riku didn't like taking them, but they always worked.

They all sat there, fishing for about forty more minutes. Sora caught nine fish, Hurky had caught five fish, Kairi had caught seven fish, Ryo caught four fish, Alexa caught six fish, but Riku only caught one in all that time.

"I think that's enough with the fishing." Sora said, getting up and stretching. "Let's take these fish home."

Hurky nodded. "I know my little brother doesn't like fish, but I'm going to make him eat it. I don't care if I have to shove it down his throat!" she joked.

Everyone laughed, including Riku, who laughed a small laugh.

"Yeah, and if Fluffy MC comes over, make him eat it, too!" joked Ryo.

Fluffy MC was Hurky's brother's best friend. He was six months younger than Hurky and her brother was exactly thirteen months younger than Hurky.

Everyone else stood up along with Sora. Riku slowly got up, too. Only he felt dizzy and lightheaded. Suddenly, he lost consciousness, fell off the island and into the water.

"RIKU!" cried Kairi.

Without thinking, Sora jumped into the water after Riku. He swam deeper and saw that Riku was sinking. Sora swam to Riku and grabbed him. He swam all the way to shore and dragged Riku out. He didn't wake up.

"Hurky, do CPR!" cried Sora, remembering that Hurky was trained in CPR as a SeeD back in Balamb Garden.

Hurky bent down to Riku and performed CPR. She compressed his chest 25 times and then had to breathe into his mouth twice and then repeated the compression and breathing process again. Kairi, Ryo, Alexa, and Sora just stared, hoping for the best. Finally, Riku began to cough up water and opened his eyes.

"RIKU, YOU'RE OKAY!" squealed Ryo, hugging Riku tight.

"Of course I'm okay," Riku said. He looked up at Hurky and Sora. "Thanks, guys."

"No problem." said Sora and Hurky at the same time.

"But I didn't like having to breathe into your mouth!" cried Hurky, who began to spit. "Poo! But I had to do that in order to save you."

"At least Balamb Garden taught you something useful." said Alexa.

Riku stood up and began to walk off with everyone else. Sora walked with Riku to make sure he was fine.

"Slight fever, my ass." he said, crossing his arms. "Riku, if you weren't feeling good, why didn't you say anything?"

"I asked the same thing!" said Ryo. "That's it. I'm taking you to my house to take some remedies!"

Riku moaned. He hated taking Ryo's remedies that she had brought from her home world. Once, she gave him cough drops that had a eucalyptus flavor so strong, that he almost gagged and passed out from it. He would rather be sick than take the remedies, but Ryo watched Riku like a hawk when she gave him a remedy.

Riku and Ryo walked all the way to Ryo's house on Coconut drive. She gave him a blanket to shield himself from freezing and went to her medicine cabinet only to scream.

"What's wrong, Ryo?" asked Riku.

"The remedies," said Ryo. "They're all gone!"

Her entire medicine cabinet was empty except for a half used bottle of Day-Quil. So, she had to give Riku some of that. Then, she took Riku home where he changed into dry clothes and lied down on the living room couch to watch TV. He changed the channel to MTV, where one of his favorite shows, Pimp my Ride, was on. His eyes were looking at the TV, but they looked tired. Riku couldn't keep his eyes open. Within five minutes, his eyes were closed. Ryo gently moved some of Riku's silvery bangs to feel his forehead. Slightly warmer. So, she had to go take him upstairs...

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**Hurky: To be continued...**


	4. Extremely bad news

Ryo picked Riku up and took him upstairs to his room, where she set him down on his bed and covered him with a blanket. Before leaving, she went and got him a glass of water in case he got thirsty. Then, she turned off the light and walked out. She went home where she began to prepare for a journey. She would have to spend two days going to and from her home world to gather all the remedies again to help Riku. She hoped that he wouldn't get any sicker than he already was by the time she got back.

When Ryo was loading supplies into her gummi ship, Sora came along.

"What are you doing, Ryo?" asked Sora.

"I'm preparing for a journey to my home world." explained Ryo as she shut the door to the trunk. "All my remedies turned up missing, so I need to get more before Riku gets worse."

"Listen, Ryo. I think that you shouldn't go alone. You could get attacked by a heartless swarm." said Sora. "Besides, Riku's my best friend."

Ryo thought for a minute. Then, she nodded. "Okay, go gather your things." she said.

So, Sora did and he called Kairi, Alexa, and Hurky to tell them to keep a watchful eye on Riku and to check with him and Ryo every now and then. Kairi already said that her mother was over at Riku's house, talking to his mother when she heard Riku run to the bathroom and then heard him throwing up.

"This is bad." Ryo said as soon as she blasted off and heard Kairi's news. "He's throwing up? That's definitely not a good sign."

Sora and Ryo spent 8 hours driving, several hours in Ryo's home world gathering the remedies from plants and from peddlers, and 8 more hours driving back home. Sora noticed that his cell phone stopped working in that world and Ryo explained that her world didn't have technology, so there were no cell phone towers to run the cell phones...

Meanwhile, it was 10:00 at night on Destiny Islands, where Riku was lying asleep in his bed. His mother woke him up at dinnertime to ask him if he wanted some chicken noodle soup that Alexa had brought over. Alexa always did that when someone was sick. She spends hours cooking it in a crock pot with chicken, noodles, vegetables, and chicken broth. Riku just refused to eat and changed into his PJs and went to back to bed.

Anyway, Riku's mother walked in with a cold compress. She sat down on her son's bed and put a thermometer under his tongue. She waited a few minutes until the thermometer beeped. She took it out and read it. 104.2.

Mrs. Thompson gasped and immediately put the compress on Riku's forehead. She called to her husband.

"Seth, look at his temperature," said Mrs. Thompson, showing Mr. Thompson the thermometer. "What should we do?"

"Let me call Dr. Thomas." said Mr. Thompson, going out to get the cordless phone. He came back with the phone to his ear a few minutes later."...Yes, his fever has shot up since earlier tonight. The OTCs aren't working. You want us to take him to the hospital? I was afraid of that. Alright, we'll meet you there. Bye."

He pressed the end button. "Let's take him to the hospital." he said, running a hand through his light blonde crew cut hair.

Mrs. Thompson gently shook Riku. "Wake up, Riku." she said.

Riku just mumbled something that sounded like, "Ma mo monna." meaning "I don't want to."

"Riku, we have to take you to the hospital," said Mr. Thompson.

Riku pulled back the covers tried to get out of bed himself. He felt so weak. "Ugh, I can't do it!" he said weakly.

His father tried to but almost ended up hurting his back from trying to lift his muscular son. His mother would have tried to do it, but she was skinny and was no match to lift someone up who was taller and bigger than her. They decided to get two of the strongest people they knew. Hurky and Ryo. Unfortunately, Ryo was unavailable but luckily, Hurky was. She was sitting at her computer at home when she received a phone call to go to Riku's house.

Hurky showed up five minutes later and helped Riku's dad lift Riku out of bed. They helped Riku go to the garage and got him inside the navy blue SUV. Hurky ran upstairs and got a blanket and a pillow and helped Riku get comfortable in the backseat.

Riku's parents asked Hurky if she would like to come and she agreed. She sat in the backseat with Riku while Riku's father drove the SUV on the freeway to the hospital.

When they got there, Hurky ran and got Riku a wheelchair and took him to the ER where Dr. Thomas, a man with brown hair, glasses, and wore a white coat with a shirt and tie and slacks, examined him.

"He is very sick." he concluded. "When did his symptoms start?"

"I think this morning," replied Hurky. "We all went fishing and Riku fell into the water. Sora and I had to go rescue him,"

And so, Riku changed out of his PJs into two hospital gowns and was taken to a room where they immediately hooked him up to an IV and gave him antibiotics...

When Sora and Ryo got back to Destiny Islands, Kairi saw them from Riku's house and ran to Sora and Ryo. Her expression was saddened and worried.

"What's wrong, Kairi?" asked Sora.

Kairi was silent at first, but then she took a deep breath and exhaled. "Sora, Ryo, I don't really know how to say this, but..." she said sadly. "Riku had to be taken to the hospital."

"WHAT?" cried Ryo and Sora.

"This can't be happening!" Sora said angrily. "How did it happen?"

"Last night, around ten o' clock, Riku's mom went to check on him and he had a very high fever, a few more fainting spells, bad chills, delirium, even some trouble breathing." explained Kairi. "So, his parents had to take him to the hospital. He didn't want to go, but the over-the-counter medicines were not working."

Ryo stood there in shock for about two minutes. Kairi stepped up to her and gave her a hug. Then, she hugged Sora. A few tears were running down all their faces.

"Can we go see him?" asked Sora after what seemed like forever.

"Not really." said Kairi. "He's in the Intensive Care unit and people 18 and over can go visit him. That means Ryo and Hurky are the only ones who can go."

Ryo was 1,015 years old but looked like she was ten and Hurky was 19.

"Let's go." said Ryo. "Sora may not be able to see Riku but at least I can."

"Hurky's already over there." said Alexa, who had appeared out of nowhere. Then, a plan hatched in her head. "Sora, what if Hurky and Ryo sneak you in?"

"Hey, that sounds like a great idea!" Kairi said. "Me and Alexa can distract the receptionists while you guys go in!"

So, Kairi's mother drove them to the hospital. On the way there, Alexa called Hurky there and told her about the plan. Hurky said that she would meet them at the entrance.

"How come minors can't go into the Intensive Care unit anyway?" asked Kairi.

"Because kids can get sick from other people being sick." explained Ryo. "It may not be safe."

They reached the Destiny Islands General Hospital where everyone got out and found Hurky at the entrance.

Kairi and Alexa walked up to a fat, bald security guard.

"Um, excuse me," said Kairi.

"May I help you ladies?" asked the security guard in a cheery tone of voice.

"Can you tell us where the Maternity Ward is?" asked Kairi. "My aunt just had a baby boy and I don't come here often."

"Aw, isn't that cute?" asked the security guard. He pointed to south. "Just turn into that hallway, turn right, left, keep going left, and then turn to the right until you see a sign that says _Maternity Ward_. Got it?"

While Kairi was making up that phony baloney story, Sora, Hurky, and Ryo tiptoed to a hallway that had a sign saying _Intensive Care Unit _posted on the entrance. They succeeded without any problems. They took an elevator to the third floor and went several doors down. Hurky had been there earlier with Riku's parents, so she knew what room Riku was in. They walked into a room marked Room _3-21_. There was a TV and one bed in there. And in that bed was Riku.

"Riku!" Ryo and Sora said, walking over to his bed. They noticed that he was asleep and he was looking very weak. His skin was pale and a little clammy since the room was air conditioned to the lowest setting. He had oxygen tubes in his nose and an IV hooked up into his arm, where the needle was pricked into his vein and a clear, colorless liquid wsa dripping inside. He was wearing one of those hospital shirts, a band aid around his finger where they drew blood, and one of those identification bracelets. It said: _Riku W. Thompson, 1/1/1990, Male, Y-17, Unknown illness_. Ryo sat in a chair next to Riku and took the hand that was free into her hands and held it.

"We're here." she said gently. "Everything's gonna be alright."

Sora sat in the other chair next to Ryo.

Riku woke up and turned to his left, where he saw Ryo and Sora. "Hey," he said weakly.

Tears welled in Ryo's eyes. She stood up and carefully put her arms around Riku in a hug and sobbed. He patted her back.

"I'll be okay, Ryo," he whispered.

"But you're sick." said Ryo, sniffing.

Riku turned and saw Sora, who stood up and also put his arms around Riku. Then, Riku saw Hurky and gave her a hug, too.

"Where am I?" asked Riku, looking around.

"In the hospital," explained Hurky. "Your mom and dad brought you here last night. They said that you were delirious and you were running a very high fever."

Riku closed his eyes. He was awake last night when his parents took him into their car, but he was suddenly seeing his twin brother, which was impossible, since Rep liked to go to sleep at ten o'clock at night. But the only voices he heard were his parents and they were saying things like, "His fever's even worse. The medicine never worked," "We need to take him there, NOW!!" "He's very sick." and "Hang in there, sweetie. We're getting you some help."

Riku had almost fallen asleep when he heard a familiar voice at the door. His own voice.

"I see Riku must be on the mend." said the voice.

Everyone turned to the doorway to find Rep standing there, holding some flowers and a _Get Well Soon_ balloon in his hands...


	5. The trouble with Riku

"What are you doing here, Rep?" Sora demanded in an angry tone of voice.

Rep walked over to Riku's bed and handed Riku the flowers. "What, can't I see my little bro in the hospital while he recuperates?" he asked innocently. "How you feeling, little bro?"

Sora snorted.

"I feel the same as I did yesterday." Riku said, ignoring Sora.

Rep put a hand on Riku's forehead. "Yup. Still burning up." he said, feeling the warm skin under his hand.

"Get your hand away from him!" said Ryo. "I know you have something to do with this!"

"Are you accusing me of making my own brother sick?" asked Rep in shock. "I can never do anything like that! He's my own flesh and blood! We're exactly the same! We spent nine months together cramped in our's mother's-"

"Don't even go on about that!" Sora cried. "We know you and Riku both have the same DNA because you're identical, blah blah blah."

"Very good, Sora." said Rep. "You're smarter than you used to be. Last time I saw you, you could barely multiply numbers!"

"I've known how to multiply for about six years!" Sora shot back. "And another thing is that-"

"Sora?" Riku asked in a sickly voice. "I'm falling asleep, so can you please keep it down or have this argument somewhere else?"

Then, he yawned, closed his eyes, and drifted into a peaceful sleep. Ryo and Sora stood there in silence, looking at Riku. Ryo thought Riku looked so quiet and tranquil as he slept. Rep turned to them.

"Listen, can I just have a few minutes alone with Riku?" he asked.

Sora was about to protest, but then Ryo put her hand on Sora's shoulder, as if to say, "Let him. After all, Riku _is_ his brother."

"We're just about to leave." Sora said. "Come on, Ryo."

Sora, Hurky, and Ryo walked out of the hospital room and walked through the corridors, went down the elevator, and found Kairi and Alexa coming back from the Maternity Ward.

"Those babies were so adorable!" squealed Alexa as she and Kairi walked. They noticed Sora, Ryo, and Hurky. Alexa's expression changed from happy to serious. "So how did it go?"

"Riku was sleeping a lot but he should make a full recovery soon." Sora said. "I just know it! We gotta be positive!"

Everyone agreed. Hurky invited everyone to her house to eat some pizza for dinner. She ordered two pizzas. One with everything and the other with extra cheese. As Sora, Kairi, Hurky, Ryo, and Alexa all ate, they talked about the memories of Riku when he was well.

"Remember that one time when Kairi was about to use that self-checkout in the grocery store?" asked Ryo.

**(Scene changes to a few months back)**

Kairi, Ryo, and Riku were waiting behind someone at a self-checkout in the store. The person in front of them took practically all of eternity trying to figure out how to use the checkout on his own. He had a loaf of French bread, two bell peppers, celery, dried papaya, milk, and an eggplant. He managed to scan everything but the produce. The eggplant sat on the scanner as the guy looked through the computer to find the "E" in "eggplant." The bell peppers, the apples, and the celery were still waiting to be scanned. Finally, the guy in charge came to help.

"Finally." Riku muttered under his breath. "Someone to help out this idiot."

Kairi was holding only a twelve pack of diet orange soda, waiting patiently. She turned to Riku. "He's just new to this process of paying for his groceries." she said. "Just wait."

After everything was sorted out for the guy, he paid for everything and walked out. Kairi stepped up to the self checkout and was about to enter her club card number when the same guy who helped out the last guy slammed a placard that said CLOSED onto the checkout.

"Closed." he said. "Go to another checkstand."

Kairi's jaw dropped open in shock. "But I was about to-" she stammered with tears choking her up and feeling sad.

The guy walked off. Riku noticed that Kairi was about to cry and he hated to see people cry, especially his own friends over matters that were unfair to them. Riku got mad and marched over to the guy and threatened to give him a black eye if he didn't let Kairi use the checkstand. He could since the guy was about his own age. So, he did.

**(Scene changes back to Hurky's house).**

"I remember when I first met Riku." Alexa said fondly, taking another slice of cheese pizza. "My bike chain broke, causing me to fall off my bike and I got hurt a little. So I tried to fix the chain but couldn't. Then, Riku came along, asked if I needed some help and I let him."

"I fell out of a tree!" Ryo said with a laugh.

Everyone laughed.

"Remember when we went on that ride called 'Journey to Atlantica?'" asked Kairi. "The lady was talking through the speakers and Riku yelled for her to shut up!"

"And then those guys wet us through those machines where you put in some munny. Riku kicked their asses out of the theme park!!" said Hurky.

Everyone laughed until Sora's cell phone rang. Sora took the phone from his pocket and answered it. "Hello?" he asked. There was a long pause. His smile turned into a frown almost immediately. "WHAT? How did...I see...well, can we go see him? Okay. Bye."

He sighed and flipped his cell phone shut. Everyone stared at Sora in anticipation.

"What happened?" asked Kairi. "What's the matter?"

Sora was silent. He couldn't figure out a way to tell them. Finally, he sighed a deep sigh. "Riku's fever went up a little more and his delirium's gone bad." he said. "The doctors are trying to stabilize his fever. But he kept crying out in his sleep. Then, as he was crying out in his sleep, he kept trying to get out of bed. So they had to give him a few injections."

Ryo stood up and immediately darted out the door. Sora followed behind her. Ryo tried to run all the way to the hospital, but Sora was too quick for her.

"Ryo, listen. It's dark out here and I don't want you going to the hospital alone." said Sora as he walked beside Ryo.

"Sorry, Sora, but I'm horrified at the thought of Riku being jabbed with needles and-" said Ryo.

"-He's already being jabbed with needles." said Sora, cutting Ryo off. "He's got the IV and they're taking his blood for testing."

They reached the hospital and went to Riku's room with no problem. They found that Riku was taken off the IV and was sleeping peacefully.

"He looks pretty normal to me." said Sora.

"Don't be so sure." said a voice. Sora turned to see that it was a doctor with short brown hair and a long, white coat. "He's been crying out that someone's doing something to him but we don't believe whatever delirious people say-"

Suddenly, Riku sat up in bed with his eyes half open.

"S-stop hurting me, Rep!" he said. "And lay off Sora and the others! I gotta stop you!"

He pulled off the six layers of blankets and tried to get out. The doctor called for some nurses and one came and injected something into Riku's arm. He went limp and the nurse carried him to his bed and lied him down, where he stared blankly into space.

"What did you do to him?" cried Ryo.

"We just injected him with a tranquilizer. He'll be fine." said the doctor.

Ryo stared at the doctor with an evil glare in her eyes. Finally, she punched him in the face and ran out...

* * *

**Hurky: That's all for now. Have a safe and Happy Halloween!!**


	6. Trying to mend

A few hours later, Sora had gone home to think. Riku had remained lifeless thanks to the tranquilizer until about an hour ago. Ryo called Sora to tell him that Riku had called her and told her that everything was fine except that he kept seeing Rep in his delirious episodes. His parents had apparently came to see him last night after she and Sora left but Riku was still dazed out from the tranqulizers.

The next day, Ryo had gone to see Riku very early in the morning. At around seven, just two hours before visiting hours began. She had snuck in. With her powers, she made a mirage that she was a doctor and went to Riku's room. He was sleeping when she got there. At about 9:15, Rep showed up.

"What are you-" Ryo said loudly until Rep put a finger to her lips.

"We don't want to wake Riku now, would we?" he asked in a sly yet calm voice.

Ryo shoved Rep's hand away.

"Ryo, will you be a dear friend and get Riku an orange juice?" asked Rep in a mannerly voice. "The nurse told me to make sure he takes his medications."

Ryo was hesitant at first. She didn't know whether to go or not. But then again, Rep might have just been trying to help his brother feel better. She stood up and walked out of the room, took the elevator to the waiting rooms, and to the vending machines. She came back about five minutes later to find Riku awake and sitting up in his bed and Rep was handing Riku two pills in a small cup. One was small and white and the other was conspiculously pink and white. Ryo gave Rep the bottle of orange juice. He opened it, poured some into a glass, and gave it to Riku.

"Here, Riku. Take this with your medication." he said.

Riku took the juice, popped the pills into his mouth, and drank the juice.

"Did you sleep okay, Riku?" asked Ryo.

Riku nodded. He was too sleepy and weak to even talk. He lied back down on the pillows and tried to relax.

"Time for vital signs!" said a male nurse, carting in a machine. He made Riku sit up. The nurse took a thermometer that was attached to the machine and stuck it under Riku's tongue. He waited a few seconds until the thermometer beeped. He took it out of Riku's mouth and looked at it. "One hundred and two point two. A lot better than yesterday! I see that you're on the road to recovery!"

Riku smiled a tiny smile. The nurse picked up a blood pressure cuff and put it around Riku's arm. The cuff inflated and deflated slowly at first and then it completely deflated.

"Your blood pressure's a little high but that must be a side effect of the medication." mused the nurse. He took his instruments and left.

Rep took out his cell phone and checked the time. "Whoops! Better go!" he said. "Mom wants me to mow the lawn."

He walked out almost in a flash. Ryo remembered that Riku normally mowed his lawn on Saturdays, but Riku has been unable to do so since he has been hospitalized and Rep's been here...wait, something occurred to Ryo. Riku was fine until Rep showed up. Two days after Rep returned to the islands, Riku was hospitalized. Ryo thought that maybe Riku's sickness had something to do with Rep, but how was there any proof?

Riku was asleep at this point. His long, silver hair was strewn everywhere on his pillows. Ryo smiled to herself. Riku was like a little boy when he slept.

"Ryo?" asked a voice.

Ryo turned to find Sora standing in the doorway. He walked over to one of the chairs and sat in it.

"Sora, I think Rep may have something to do with this!" Ryo blurted out.

"WHAT?" Sora yelled loudly.

"Shh, Riku's sleeping!" shushed Ryo. She paused. "Listen, every since Rep's been here, Riku has been sick. Just a few days ago, Riku was fine before Rep came along."

Sora leaned back in his chair and thought. This did sound like something Rep would do. He thought back to the last time Rep was on the islands, back in January. Rep had run Sora over with his car and stabbed him. Sora remembered that fateful day. He was skateboarding along, like nothing was wrong, when he felt something slam into him. He felt his rib and his wrist snapping as he flew over the car and rolled onto the ground. While he was down, he felt something stabbing into his back and Sora let out a scream. Finally, he passed out. He didn't remember nothing after that until he woke up in the hospital a few days later. Riku said that he found Sora lying there in the street with blood gushing out of his back. Riku and the others were devastated.

Suddenly, Riku woke up and immediately ran to the bathroom. He leaned over the toilet and began to throw up.

"Riku!" cried Sora and Ryo, both running into the bathroom with him. Riku threw up all he could and then plopped himself down on the floor. The tiles felt cold against Riku's bare legs. He was wearing two hospital gowns that went a little past his knees. He wore two of them because there was a huge slit in the back of the gowns, exposing his backside and he hated that. So, there was a second one, covering his back and tied up in the front.

Sora helped Riku stand up and walked him back to his bed. Ryo flushed the toilet only to notice that Riku had thrown up a small amount of blood.

"OMG, he's throwing up blood!" Ryo said in shock when she walked out of the bathroom. Sora helped Riku lie down. Riku immediately closed his eyes in exhaustion.

"Time for medication!" said a female nurse, walking in with a cup consisting of one white pill.

Ryo gasped. Didn't Riku just take his medication just now???


	7. Kairi's investigation

"What did you say?" asked Sora.

"He hasn't taken his medication yet." explained the nurse.

Ryo sat there in total confusion as the nurse gave Riku his medication. Right after she left, Riku fell asleep. Ryo nudged Sora on the side with her elbow.

"Sora, Rep gave Riku his medication this morning." Ryo said.

"Are you sure?" questioned Sora.

"Yes, but..." Ryo trailed off. She was confused. What was going on here?

Meanwhile, back at Riku's house, no one was there but Kairi was. She felt like that she needed to do some investigating. Ryo told Kairi the night before of what was going on with Riku. Kairi knew that this was Rep's doing. She knew that Riku's house was a three bedroom, but it had a basement and that was where Rep's bedroom and his laboratory was. Riku and Rep shared a room until they were about eleven, when Rep was classified as a genius. No one was ever allowed in there while Rep was in Balamb. Riku had gotten in trouble a few times for trying to take a look inside his brother's room.

Anyway, Kairi thought that she could snoop around Rep's room to get some dirt. If she found any, she would tell Sora and Ryo. She had a key. Riku's parents gave her a copy of their housekeys whenever they were away to feed Daisy the cat. She was the only other person besides Riku's parents and Rep that Daisy liked.

She went to the back door and used to keys to get in. She walked into the kitchen and was greeted by a gray and white cat rubbing against her ankles. Kairi petted Daisy and walked over to the door next to the laundry room. It said _Rep's room and laboratory. KEEP OUT. THIS MEANS YOU, RIKU!!_

Kairi laughed silently to herself when she saw this. She took the doorknob into her hand and slowly turned it. The door unlatched itself and it gave Kairi the entrance to Rep's room. She slowly stepped down the stairs and flicked the light switch to find a clean room. It was the cleanest basement Kairi had ever seen. There were no mice running around or any dust. The room was painted white and the floor had shiny tiles. In the middle of the room was a small window but it was covered in blinds. In the room had a bed that was neatly made with a blue blanket and a blue pillow. There was also a dresser drawer, where Rep kept all his clothes. There was also a desk that had a flat screen computer on it and a computer chair.

"There's nothing-" Kairi said until she saw the rest of Rep's room. She gasped when she saw the Bunsen burners, the liquids in glass vials, petrie dishes, and everything you'd see in a lab. It was like the ones you'd see in movies, only more advanced.

"Looks like Rep outdid himself." Kairi said to herself. She examined the rest of the room and saw a petrie dish that had a couple pink and white pills on it. It was labeled _The Destruction of Riku_. "Oh, my, go-"

Suddenly, she felt someone grab her, put their hand over her mouth so she wouldn't scream and stuck something sharp into her arm. The person let go of her.

"Think you could expose my dirty little secret, Kairi?" asked a familiar voice. Kairi turned around to find Rep, standing there with a syringe in his hand.

"You're sick, you know that? You're making your own twin brother sick for...for..." Kairi said until she began to feel woozy and sick. She passed out and hit the floor...

Riku himself was out cold for a few hours until he woke up several hours later to find Ryo and Sora still in his room. Ryo was watching TV while Sora was trying to call Kairi.

"Where is she?" asked Sora in a frustrated voice, holding his cell phone to his ear. "She was supposed to call me."

Ryo turned to find Riku staring at her.

"Riku, I think Rep has something to do with this!" she said.

You think? thought Riku, still feeling too weak to talk.

Suddenly, Sora's cell phone rang and he immediately pressed the talk button. "Hello? Hurky?" he asked."Have you seen Kairi all day? You haven't? Well, she was supposed to call me. What? She hasn't, either?"

Sora talked for about five more minutes. Finally, he flipped his cell phone shut. "Hurky and Alexa haven't seen Kairi all day. She hasn't been home, either." he said.


	8. Let's go save Riku

**Hurky: Hey everyone! I know it's been a while since I updated this, but Christmas came along and I caught two colds in about three weeks apart.**

**Riku: She's still suffering from one, so she's coughing like crazy.**

**Hurky: Anyways, enjoy this chapter!!

* * *

**

Sora left the hospital an hour later, and he had not gotten a single call returned from Kairi. He knew something was up. Kairi always answered her phone unless they were in school, in which they were not. It was summer vacation. The last time he talked to Kairi, she said something about investigating Riku's house. Sora told her not to go without Riku there. He decided to try going to Riku's house.

Meanwhile, Rep had Kairi, passed out and lying on the floor in a large closet in his room. Her cell phone kept ringing, though. Rep finally had enough and took Kairi's pink Sidekick cell phone from her pocket. There were 7 missed calls from Sora and 2 from her mother. Rep deleted them and turned the phone off. He got tired of hearing Chris Griffin saying there was a monkey in his closet as a ringtone.

That was right when Sora tried once again to call her. He only got her voice mail. Sora flipped his phone shut.

"She turned off her phone?" asked Sora. Kairi rarely ever had her phone off unless she was somewhere important.

He walked over to Riku's house where the lawn was badly mowed by Rep. He rang the doorbell. No answer. Rep heard it and decided to ignore it. He hated going to the door. Sora rang again, and again until he finally got frustrated and left.

In the hospital, Riku lied there and stared at the TV. That was when he began to cough. He had a coughing fit only to realize that he tasted blood. Riku took his hand away and saw blood spattered on his hand. Riku didn't know what to do. Maybe it was one of the symptoms or even some side effects. Who knew? Riku just ignored it at first. When a nurse came in later to check his temperature, Riku coughed again and more blood came out. The nurse saw it.

"OMG!!" she said. "I need to get the doctor!"

As she ran out of the room, Riku thought to himself: _What's the big deal? It's just a little blood._

The nurse came back with the same doctor Ryo had punched in the face.

"Look at his hands, there's blood!" said the nurse.

Riku opened his right hand and the doctor examined it.

"We need to administer treatment now!" he said.

Suddenly, Riku felt dizzy and fainted. When he woke up, he saw his parents standing over him. Riku had more oxygen tubes in his nose. He felt so weak right then. He still couldn't talk. He wanted to say "Mommy" and "Daddy" because he felt that he wanted to be close with them, like he was a little kid. And he was scared with all these strange things happening to him.

"Oh, Riku!" sobbed Riku's mom, putting her arms around her younger son. Riku patted her back as if to say everything was going to be okay. His mom let go and sat in a chair.

"RIKU!!" said a familiar voice.

Riku turned to the door and saw Ryo. She ran to Riku and threw her arms around Riku. She was crying because Riku heard sobs.

"They say you're getting worse!!" she said.

Riku couldn't say anything. He just rubbed Ryo's back and gave her a kiss on the forehead. Ryo was surprised. He never did anything like this when he was well. They let go.

"The doctor says you're getting worse, Riku." said Riku's father. "They're doing all they can to save you, but if you keep getting worse, the unthinkable will happen."

Riku knew what that unthinkable would be. Death. If he died, it would impact everyone, especially his friends. Riku wanted to fight the sickness, but it was up to his body. Riku didn't want to die showing he was weak. He thought he'd die being strong, like fighting swarms of heartless or in a motocross accident. A tear ran down his cheek. Riku turned to his side and his mom gently rubbed his back, humming a lullaby she sang to Riku and Rep when they were babies, to calm him down.

Over at Riku's house, Kairi finally woke up.

"Mm..." she mumbled, regaining consciousness. She noticed she was lying on the floor. She looked around the room to notice that there was a lightbulb hanging from the ceiling that was on. "Wh-where am I?"

She sat up and saw that her cell phone was lying by the door. Kairi stood up, walked to the door and turned the knob. It was locked. Kairi sighed and saw her cell phone. Rep had forgotten to take it. She picked it up and saw that it was off. Kairi turned her phone back on and silenced it. For all she knew, Rep could have been standing outside the door, listening for any noises that indicated she was getting contact from the outside world.

Sora was sitting in his living room, watching TV when his cell phone made a noise. He leaned over to the coffee table and picked up his cell phone. It said 1 new message from Kairi. He flipped his phone open and read the message. _Sora, I M in Rep's room and locked in his closet_, it read. _DO NOT CALL MY PHONE!!!_

Sora immediately replied to the message and then waited for a reply. He got one a minute later, saying that she found out that Rep was doing something to Riku and she told him everything. Sora told her that he had to get Ryo to try and stop Rep as soon as possible. He jumped off his couch and ran all the way to the hospital, where Ryo was sitting there with Riku and his parents. Sora burst in, panting and sweating.

"Sora?" asked Mr. Thompson.

"Ryo, we need to talk!" panted Sora.

"Why?" asked Ryo.

"Just come with me!" said Sora. He pulled Ryo to the hall and closed the door shut to the room.

"What's going on?" demanded Ryo.

"Listen, Ryo, we need to stop Rep." explained Sora. "It turns out that he was giving Riku a fake medication that's worsening his condition!"

"How did you-?" asked Ryo.

"Kairi. That's another thing." replied Sora. "He caught her snooping in his room and locked her in his closet. She text messaged me all this."

Ryo nodded. "Let's go save Riku." she said.


	9. The search for the antidote

**Hurky: OMFG, sorry for the long, long wait!! I started college recently and have been too busy to update plus suffering a case of writer's block!!**

**Riku: And now enjoy this chapter. They better find me a freaking cure!!**

* * *

Sora and Ryo began to walk the corridors of the hospital. 

"So what should be our first move?" asked Ryo.

"Well, I want to get Kairi out of Rep's room as soon as possible," replied Sora, "While we're there, I want you to search his room for the cure."

"You mean 'his lab?'" asked Ryo jokingly.

"Whatever it is!!" Sora said with a laugh.

They left the hospital and immediately went straight to Riku's house. Sora and Ryo stood outside of Rep's bedroom window. If you looked out through it from Rep's room, you would be able to only see Sora's shoes standing outside.

"How will we know if Rep's in there or not?" asked Ryo.

Sora took out his cell phone and flipped it open. "Leave it to me," he said with a smirk. He began to press buttons, texting a message to Kairi.

Kairi, meanwhile, was still sitting in Rep's closet, feeling extremely bored. Suddenly, her phone made a sound and Kairi opened the Sidekick and read the message. Sora asked if she knew if Rep was still there or not. Kairi had not heard Rep making any sounds for the past forty-five minutes or so. Maybe he was gone. Kairi text Sora a message, saying that Rep may be gone so they would have to be on the lookout.

She sighed as she closed her Sidekick. "I hope he makes it over here before Rep-" she said until the door opened and Rep stepped in. He saw the cell phone in Kairi's hand.

"I knew it!" he said, grabbing the pink phone from Kairi's hand. "You're texting people! I thought I heard something being flipped shut. I could have sworn I took this thing away from you..."

He dropped the phone to the floor and stomped on it with his Chuck Taylor shoes.

"Hey, that cost me 30,000 munny!" cried Kairi.

"So what? You're rich, go buy a new one!" said Rep, pulling out another syringe from his pocket and jabbing it into Kairi's arm.

"You can keep drugging me, but...you can't..." said Kairi in a woozy voice until everything went black.

"She thinks that Rep's gone," said Sora, closing his cell phone and putting it in his pockets. "Let's go inside."

"Let me guess, we're going to have to sneak inside?" asked Ryo.

"No, not when we're going inside the house since I can just walk in," explained Sora. "Riku's family trusts me enough. It's Rep's room we're going to have to sneak in there."

"Good luck with that," Ryo said under her breath. "Come on, let's go."

She and Sora walked over to the front door and turned the knob. It was locked.

"Hm. The door's normally unlocked." Sora commented.

"Wait, I think I have a spare," said Ryo, fishing in her pockets. She pulled out some munny and a keyring with three keys. She put the munny back in her pocket and singled out a silver key. She put it in the doorknob with a keyhole and turned it. The door successfully opened and she and Sora walked inside.

The house was empty. Sora went over to Rep's room at the basement.

"Ryo, you stand guard," he instructed. "Keep an eye out for Rep or his parents."

So, Ryo waited outside while Sora tried to open the door to Rep's room. Locked.

"Man, Rep is sure going great lengths to make sure we don't get to Kairi," commented Sora.

"Leave this to me," said Ryo. She pulled out her keyring, singled out another key, but this time, it was a weird looking key. It looked like a skeleton. "This is a skeleton key. It can open any lock in the universe!"

She put the key in the keyhole, turned it, and opened the door. Sora stepped inside and scanned the room. There was Rep's closet, on the north. Sora knocked on the door.

"Kairi? You in there?" he asked.

No answer.

"Kairi?" asked Sora, taking the doorknob and turning it. He opened the door and saw that there was no one there. "What the-?"

"Sora!" yelled Ryo as she ran in the room. She showed Sora a piece of paper.

_Dear Sora and Ryo,_ it said._ "I had a feeling that you were going to be looking for Kairi, so I took her with me! Signed, Ryan "Rep," Thompson._

Sora was silent. He was beginning to feel rage burn up inside his body. "I don't believe this!" he cried. "The nerve of that guy! Why would he take Kairi?"

"Because Rep knows that Kairi is one of the most important people in your life," explained Ryo. "Remember the exact same thing happened with Riku? You were in the hospital and I got kidnapped."

"I don't think Rep would kidnap his own twin brother from the hospital. Their parents are there right now with him, so I think it would be a little hard for Rep to kidnap Riku. After all, he's the one who got him sick in the first place." said Sora. "Now where could he have taken her?"

"I don't know, but maybe Rep keeps an antidote somewhere." Ryo said

"You may be right," said Sora. Then, he got an idea. "Come on, let's trash the place!"

"NO!" cried Ryo. "Rep will know we did this."

"But Ryo, if we trash the place, maybe we can find the antidote and give it to Riku!" Sora explained. He snapped his fingers as he remembered something. "Wait, Ryo, remember when we went and got those remedies? Maybe-"

Ryo shook her head. "They would have only worked if we gave them to Riku when his symptoms were minor. They're too severe now."

"Damn it!" cursed Sora. He summoned his keyblade. "This place is so getting trashed!"

Ryo sighed and rolled her eyes.

Meanwhile, Rep was in the secret place at the island Sora and his friends hang out at. Rep had learned of the secret place a few years ago when he eavesdropped on Riku talking to Kairi about it. He had Kairi tied up and still knocked out.

"Sora and Ryo may look everywhere on Destiny Islands for Kairi," Rep said smugly to himself, "But they'll never look here!"

He pulled out a vial full of a clear liquid from his pocket. "They'll also never get this antidote!!" he said with a smirk.

Over at the hospital, Riku finally fell asleep. The doctors and nurses got his coughing under control. A nurse was attaching a pouch of blood to an IV pole. Alexa and Hurky had shown up but only Alexa was sitting with Riku's parents at Riku's bedside. Hurky was not in the room because she had given the blood in the pouch. The doctor immediately asked for a blood transfusion only the were short on blood supply since there had not been many donors in the past few weeks. Hurky learned what Riku's blood type was and volunteered to give the blood since she had the same blood type and was old enough to do it. They had already screened it and had it ready for Riku within an hour.

"They're trying all they can to save Riku," said Mr. Thompson. "They gave him the strongest medicines but it's no good."

Hurky walked in with a bandage wrapped around her left arm at the elbow and several cans of juice in her right arm.

"They hope that the transfusion will do some good since Riku threw up and coughed up so much of it." said Riku's mom.

Riku opened his eyes and saw that his arm had a needle with a tube and red liquid going through it pricked in it. He looked up and saw Hurky with the bandage on her arm and smiled a weak smile at her as if to say, "Thanks,"

Hurky smiled back. "You're welcome." she said...

Back over with Sora and Ryo, the place had been totally ransacked. Unfortunately, they didn't find the antidote.

"Rep's got it..." said Sora, making his keyblade disappear. "I just know it."

He and Ryo walked out of the room...

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**Hurky: Well, there you have it. The first update in a while. I have indeed given blood last month. It hurts for a minute and then it gets all tingly. I encourage people to give blood!**

**Riku: That's if you're old enough and not squeamish! Laters!**


	10. Here we go! Some closure!

**Hurky: OMFG!! I'm SO sorry for not updating at all in the past few months. I started college and finished the semester, plus there was a death of someone very close and important to me in May.**

**Riku: Sorry if the chapter sucks, but Hurk's gotta get back in the game and update more often. Enjoy this chapter!**

* * *

Several hours later, Sora left his house and decided that he had needed some time to think. He didn't know what to do. He was hoping to have found something. Anything that could have helped Riku. Now, he's being left there to die slowly and painfully. Sora was feeling very depressed because he was about to lose his closest and best friend. The doctors did all they could by trying to give him the strongest medications. Some of them weren't even supposed to be taken by people under the age of 18. 

Without thinking, Sora had decided to take a walk. He didn't know where he was going. He let his mind wander, so he went wherever his legs took him. He stared at the sidewalk. The grayness of it was the only thing he could see and how his mind was. It was blank.

Somehow, he wandered out to where his boat had been kept. He sat in it, took the oars, and began to row. He just rowed and rowed, not realizing were he was going. The only sounds he heard were the sounds of water dripping from the oars as he pushed it in and out of the water.

After about ten minutes, Sora's boat stopped as it scraped the shore. Sora finally looked up and saw that he was at the island. The island he and his friends played at. Sora stepped out of the boat and began to walk on the beach. The sand crunched under his shoes with each step he took. His mind was still wandering. He couldn't think about anything but the sadness inside him.

Sora looked over to the paopu tree, where so many mishaps had occured with Riku on it. His encounters with the Burrito Eating Owl, carving drawings into the wood of the tree, sitting on it, practice fighting, and even pushing Sora off it. Sora smiled a tiny smile at that one memory.

_"Riku, I'm going to go to the movies with just Kairi tonight for the first time," said Sora, standing at the near edge of the islet, not too long ago. "I'm a bit nervous,"_

_Riku grinned and tossed his long silver hair back. He knew that Sora liked Kairi way more than a friend. "Well then, you shouldn't be nervous! How about I help you out?" he asked with a smirk._

_"How?" asked Sora, hoping for some kind of answer to get over his nervousness._

_"Like this!" said Riku, pushing Sora off the paopu island._

_Sora fell to the water and splashed. Sora went up and looked up to see Riku laughing his head off and rolling in the sand._

_"Oh man, you should have seen the look on your face!" he said, gasping for air and smacking the ground._

_Sora noticed Riku's leg closely off the edge of the island. A plan hatched in his head. He made a sly face and grabbed Riku's ankle and pulled, making Riku fall off the island and into the water._

_"WHOOOAAAAA!!" yelled Riku, falling into the water and splashed._

_"Now we're even!" said Sora, beginning to swim back to shore._

_"I'M GONNA KILL YOU!!" cried Riku, following Sora, who laughed as he swam._

Back in reality, Sora sat at the small pier that Riku had built.

It's not fair, thought Sora. He suddenly felt anger boiling up inside him. He picked up some rocks and stood up. He began to throw them angrily at the sea.

"It's not fair!" he screamed in frustration, tears welling up in his bright blue eyes, and then streaming down his cheeks. He wiped them away and sniffed. "I could just kill myself."

"Then let me do it for you!" said a familiar voice.

Sora spun around to find Rep, standing behind him on the pier.

"Well, looky what we have here. Sora doing what he does best. Being a crybaby!" Rep said cooly.

"YOU!" he screamed, summoning his keyblade and charging at Rep.

Rep just yawned and took out the vial.

"Looking for this?" he asked, holding it with his index finger and thumb.

Sora stopped dead in his tracks. "The antidote!" he said.

Rep smiled and nodded.

"Give it to me, now!" demanded Sora angrily and stretching out a hand.

"But I can't just hand it to you! It'll just take all the fun out of this!" said Rep. He thought for a minute. He had to think of a plan to torture Sora even more. Annoy him to see how far he'd go. "Okay then. I'll let you have it. BUT! You gotta catch me, first!"

He turned and ran, laughing. Sora let out an angry yell and ran after Rep as fast as he could. Rep smirked and ran even faster. He turned a corner and he took a shortcut. By the time Sora reached the corner, he couldn't find Rep anymore. He looked in various directions, but there was no luck. Sora slammed a fist into a rock wall. It left his hand scraped and bloody, but he didn't care. He was angry that he was seeing red. He would do whatever it takes to get Riku that antidote. Even if it kills him. Sora wasn't afraid to die. He's fought hordes of heartless and has even almost gotten killed at times.

Sora turned around and tried to think fast. _Where would a maniacal genious like Rep could go?_ thought Sora. _How far would he go, just to keep a vial away from me?_

Back at the hospital, Ryo walked in, carrying Mr. Moogy, Riku's old and tattered stuffed moogle that he has owned since birth. Riku rarely spent nights sleeping without him, but lately, he's been too sick to care.

"Riku?" asked Ryo.

Riku was lying on his side, facing the door. His eyes were open, just staring into space. Riku smiled a tiny smile when he saw Ryo with his moogle.

"I brought you Mr. Moogy," spoke up Ryo as she walked over to Riku.

She put the toy in Riku's hands and he got a grip of it. A tear trickled down his cheek. He loved this toy since forever.

_Why?_ he thought, holding Mr. Moogy close to his chest. _Why did this have to happen to me? I want to be sleeping in my own bed with my moogle, not clutching him on my deathbed in a smelly hospital._

Riku did hate hospitals. The smell of sterlized medical products and equipment, the sight of the medical staff, the patients who were sick or injured, the taste of the food, but Riku has not eaten at all since he arrived at the hospital. He had to eat it when his appendix was taken out a while ago. And then there was the sounds of the machines, medical staff, and intercoms paging doctors. Plus, hospital beds are not comfy at all. He wanted to be in his own bed, with the soft blankets and pillows scented with fabric softener that his mother would put in when she washed them.

Meanwhile, Rep had found a way to get back inside the secret place. He was keeping Kairi there, tied up with her mouth taped shut. She was awake and watching the action.

Rep walked around the small cave, pacing and holding the vial in his hand.

"I have many abilities," he said. "I can kill just about anyone. Either slowly and painfully, or quick and painless,"

"You can't kill Sora!" Kairi mumbled through the silver duct tape that was plastered over her mouth.

"Watch me!" sneered Rep, understanding what Kairi was saying. "And after I kill Sora and Riku, you're next! I've always thought you deserved to die. Every time I look at you, I'm thinking of ways to take you down."

Kairi felt her anger rising. "Well, we'll see about that! You may be the one ending up dead!" she mumbled.

"In your dreams!" said Rep.

Suddenly, a voice yelled, "Guess who?" and before Rep could turn around to see who said that, he was hit on the head with a weapon. Rep fell and hit the ground.

"OW!" yelped Rep. He turned around to find Sora, armed with his keyblade.

"SORA!" muffled Kairi.

Rep laughed an evil laugh. "So, Sora. I see that you've found me. Bra-vo!" he said, standing up and brushing himself off. "If you want that antidote so bad, just take it. But you have to fight me, first!"

Sora sighed. "Why must you make everything so inconvenient, Rep?" he asked, putting a hand on his hip.

"Because it's just the way I am!" replied Rep. He took out Riku's Soul Eater. "Recognize this? That's right! It's my brother's Soul Eater. Even though he now wields the Way to Dawn keyblade, I was given the Soul Eater!"

Then, he charged at Sora and tried to hit him with the Soul Eater, only then Sora stopped the attack with his keyblade. The two sparred. Weapons clanged together, Sora and Rep grunting as they tried to hit the other. It was a tense fight. Sora hated Rep more than anything right now. He wasn't going to let Riku down if he lost to Rep.

_This is pointless_, thought Sora. Then, he kicked Rep in the stomach and he fell to the ground. Rep grabbed his stomach and grunted in pain, his eyes squeezed shut.

"Ngh...it hurts...so much!" Rep stammered.

Sora took the time to untie Kairi and peel the tape off her mouth. Kairi gave Sora and big hug and started to cry.

"S-Sora..." she sobbed. "I'm so scared! Riku's gonna die!"

Sora stroked Kairi's head. He could smell the strawberry shampoo she used and the scent of freesia perfume. He loved that scent, but now was no time to think about how pretty Kairi was to him right now. "Not if I can help it." he said, letting go and summoning his keyblade. "Get out now before Rep-"

"Too late!" yelled Rep, almost fully recovered from the gut wrenching kick.

"Oh yeah?" asked Kairi. She kicked Rep where-the-sun-don't-shine and he once again fell over in pain.

Sora stared at Kairi with wide eyes. "Whoa." he said. He'd never seen Kairi do something like that before.

Kairi stared at Rep while he writhed in pain.

"I can't believe I just did that," she said astonishingly.

"Kairi!" yelled Sora, who was already outside. Kairi crawled out of the secret place and ran with Sora to the boat.

"Sora, wait!" said Kairi, realizing the antidote. "You didn't get-"

"This?" Sora asked, taking out a vial from the red part of his shorts. "Took it from Rep a minute ago. Now let's go save Riku!"

* * *

After reaching the residential part of Destiny Islands, Sora and Kairi ran all the way to the hospital. When they got there, they were out of breath. Sora slammed his hand again the up button of the elevator. It took forever. It was at the 20th floor and it was going down, getting people from the other floors. When it finally reached the first floor, about 3 doctors, 4 nurses, and 7 visitors walked out. Sora and Kairi got in the elevator and Sora pressed the button to get to the Intensive Care Unit. They reached their destination and ran all the way to Riku's room, where they found Riku, lying on his back with his eyes closed and Ryo, holding his left hand. Riku had Mr. Moogy in his right hand. 

"OMG..." whispered Kairi in horror. "Ryo, he-"

She couldn't finish what she said. Sora finished for her.

"Passed away?" he asked.

"No, he's not dead," replied Ryo. "He's got a pulse, still. He's just sleeping."

Sora and Kairi breathed a sigh of relief. Sora pulled out the vial and opened it.

"Make sure it's the antidote." said Kairi. "For all you know, you could have a decoy,"

Sora sniffed the vial and wrinkled his nose. "Ick! It's pretty vile if you ask me." he said. He put on a serious face and leaned closer towards Riku. "Here goes,"

He slowly poured the contents into Riku's open mouth. He swallowed the antidote in his sleep. Then, he continued to breathe through his mouth.

The three of them sat, waiting for any sign that the antidote was working. It took about ten minutes when Riku's eyelids began to twitch. Riku felt this great rush of strength flow through his body. He opened his eyes and saw his three friends.

"Riku!" said Ryo. "How are you feeling?"

Riku looked around the room and then at Sora. He smiled at his spiky haired friend.

"I...I feel...much...better..." he croaked. His throat was a bit dry from the sleeping. "Thanks, man. I owe ya one."

Then Riku closed his eyes.

"WOO HOO!" cheered Sora. "It worked!"

"YAY!!" yelled Ryo.

"ALRIGHT!!" exclaimed Kairi.

* * *

**Hurky: I know the battle scene sucked like always, but it's not over with Rep yet.**

**Riku: Oh yeah! In your face, Rep!**

**Rep: Shut up.**

**Hurky: I will try to update ASAP!**


	11. Riku's healing, but thinking

Within the next day, Riku was feeling much better. He woke up that morning feeling a little bit stronger than he had yesterday. He was able to prop himself up with his elbows and he could talk more.

That morning, visiting hours were just beginning and Riku was watching TV. He had put Mr. Moogy on the table next to him. He knew that he was getting visitors as soon as the clock struck nine, so he didn't think that he would need the company of the toy.

Right when it did, Ryo came bouncing into the room with a bouquet of flowers.

"RIKU!!" she yelled excitedly.

"Hey, Ryo!" Riku said with a smile and with more strength in his voice.

Sora, Kairi, Hurky, and Alexa all walked in the room, all beaming like crazy.

"Hey guys!" Riku said.

"Hi Riku!" said Kairi. She was carrying some mylar balloons that said, "Get Well Soon," She handed them to Riku. "These are for you!"

Riku took the balloons from Kairi and grinned. He stretched his arms out. Kairi leaned forward and hugged Riku.

"And this is from me!" said Alexa, handing Riku a bag of M&M's that were blue and yellow. "I got these specially ordered for you!"

Riku took the candy and read what they said. "'Get well soon, Riku,'" he said. He smiled and gave Alexa a hug. "Thanks!" (You can actually do that with the M&M's website)

"Also, this is from me, too!" said Hurky, giving Riku a card. "Well, mainly from Louie. He knows that you're sick, so when he got this from his boss, he told me to give it to you. It's got 25,000 munny on it!" (Hurky: It's worth $250. My brother really does get these gift cards from his boss at his work).

Riku took the card and gave Hurky a hug. They let go.

"Hey, thanks for the blood, Hurk." he said. "How's your arm coming along?"

Hurky looked down at her left arm. There was a purplish splotch on it where the needle had been pricked and the blood had been taken. "It's doing better. Doesn't hurt." she said.

"That's good." said Riku.

Sora apporached Riku. "Hey, Riku. Sorry I don't have anything to give you." he said apologetically.

"Don't sweat it, man." said Riku. He stretched out his arms and Sora leaned over and hugged him. Riku patted Sora's back and they let go. "I think the antidote is the greatest gift of all."

"Hey!" said Hurky. Everyone laughed.

Ryo then hugged Riku and gave him a big hug. She couldn't glomp him like she normally does, because he was hooked up to machines.

"Thanks for the presents, guys," said Riku.

"Hey, you needed them," said Kairi. "You went through hell, being sick and all."

Riku took a drink of water from a plastic cup next to his table and put it down. "Yeah, it sucks. I can't wait to get out of this hell hole!" he said. "I'm tired of staring at the same dumb nurses and doctors. They know me by name! They used to call me, 'That Sick Kid,' but I've been here for so long and they have been giving me medications and blood tests. And I'm sick of this stupid, colorless room. Can't wait to get out and see some color for once!"

Sora looked out the window and saw that the only thing he could see out of it was the side of another building of the hospital. No color there.

"What do you suppose is in that building?" asked Hurky.

"I think that's where they have the people who are recovering from surgeries and stuff," replied Alexa.

Kairi started to giggle when she noticed Riku's hair.

"What's so funny?" asked Riku.

"Your hair!" said Kairi. "It's so messy!!"

Riku ran a hand through his hair. His fingers got caught in the mess of tangles and knots. Kairi was right. Normally, he was able to run his fingers smoothly through his hair, but since he had not been brushing it in days, it got knotted. It also needed to be washed. Badly.

"Well, I've had my head on a pillow for days!" said Riku, feeling embarrassed about his messy hair. "Of course I'd have a bed head! It would be nice if someone would bring me a hairbrush."

Hurky rummaged through her pink cherry blossom purse (It's the exact purse I carry around!) and took out a black hairbrush. "Before you say anything, I've never used this hairbrush. I bought it in case I forget to brush my hair sometimes." she said.

"I'll brush his hair!" volunteered Ryo.

Hurky gave Ryo the hairbrush and Ryo began to brush Riku's hair. It was a challenge. So many knots got in the way, but Ryo would gently get them out.

"Ow!" yelped Riku as Ryo pulled on a knot.

"Hold still," directed Ryo, trying to get the knot out without hurting Riku.

While this was happening, Sora sat in one of the plastic chairs and thought. He was happy that Riku was recovering, but a question still bothered Sora. Would the antidote fully work? Rep never said anything about it failing or if there was a chance of Riku relapsing. He hoped Riku wouldn't relapse.

Alexa noticed that Sora was sitting there in thought. "Hey Sora, is everything alright?" she asked.

Sora looked up and lost his train of thought. "Huh?" he asked. "Oh. I was just thinking about things. Nothing to worry about."

"Well, you're just sitting there and moping." said Kairi.

Sora pouted. "I'm not moping!" he denied. "Can't I think about stuff like everyone else?"

"Lay off him, you guys," said Riku, who was now done getting his hair brushed. His long silver hair was now neat. Ryo was trying to give Hurky back the hairbrush, but she just said for Riku to keep it. So, Ryo put it on the table next to Mr. Moogy.

"Of course you can think about stuff, Sora, but you make it so that we want to bug you!" Alexa said gleefully, ignoring Riku.

"Yeah, so whatcha thinkin' Sora?" teased Hurky jokingly.

Sora sighed. "Well, it's kind of a serious issue," he said. He took a deep breath. "I'm worried that the antidote may not pull through and heal Riku all the way."

Riku put on a serious face. He remembered that Sora had gone through so much anguish just to get a dumb little vial from his older brother. Riku sighed. He remembered that Rep always made things hard for everyone. Like the time when Riku caught a cold when they were younger. Their parents left the two of them home while they went out and ran errands. They trusted Rep to give Riku his medicine. So when Riku asked for it, Rep refused to give it to Riku. He just laughed and hid the medicine. After a huge conflict, Riku dragged his weakened body out of bed and clobbered Rep for it.

"Knock knock!" said a voice.

Everyone turned to see Riku's parents in the doorway. Mrs. Thompson was holding a bouquet of yellow roses.

Sora stood up. "I think we should leave, now." he said, knowing that Riku needed some time alone with his parents. Besides, if they stayed and Riku's parents stayed, it would be too crowded. They were already violating the hospital's 2 visitor rule when they were 4.

Sora, Kairi, Hurky, Ryo, and Alexa all said goodbye and left. Riku's parents thanked Sora as he and his friends walked out and they stepped in and each gave their son a hug (and a kiss on the forehead from his mother).

"I'm so happy you're getting better!" said Mrs. Thompson, giving Riku the roses.

Mr. Thompson studied the room and smiled. "I see your friends are already spoiling you!" he joked.

Riku laughed. "Yeah, I guess they are." he said.

"Here, let me put the flowers in a vase," said Mrs. Thompson, taking the flowers from Riku and the other flowers given by Ryo and took them over to the sink, where she took a plastic pitcher and filled it with water.

Riku turned to his father. "Hey, where's Rep?" he asked.

Mr. Thompson sighed. "Well, he's off doing a few odd jobs for extra money. I think he's planning something for you when you get home from the hospital." he replied.

Riku snorted. _Trying to find a way to finish me off?_ he thought.

"Did you just snort?" asked Mrs. Thompson, setting the flowers on the table, knocking Mr. Moogy off and he fell to the floor. She noticed the toy on the floor, so she bent down, picked him up, and handed him to Riku. "I see someone brought you Mr. Moogy!"

"Ryo did," Riku said quietly, taking Mr. Moogy and clutching him in his hands. "And I was just trying to hold in a cough."

Suddenly, he really did have a coughing fit. He let go of Mr. Moogy to cover his mouth. Mr. Thompson began to pat his back, as if it were to make the coughing automatically go away. However, Riku was mad. He shoved his father's hand away and stopped coughing.

"Go away." he said angrily, pointing at the door. "Both of you."

Mrs. Thompson gasped. "I'm sorry if we're bothering you." she said.

"No, it's me," Riku said apologetically, putting a hand on his forehead. "I'm sorry, Mom. Dad. I'm just feeling a little under the weather again. I think I need some more rest."

Mr. Thompson nodded. "So, we'll come back tomorrow." he said.

Riku smiled a weak smile. "I'll try to call when I wake up." he said. "Okay?"

His parents nodded. Riku picked up Mr. Moogy, snuggled under the blanket, and closed his eyes. He really was feeling tired. He hoped the more he slept, the more better he'd feel. But Rep was getting to him again. How was he going to face him again after he comes home? He was going to be home for the entire summer and he would be leaving when September came, but it was now almost August. Rep would be there for one more month, and in that month, he would probably try to do something to Riku. Maybe even trick him into getting him sick again.

While he was thinking about it, he drifted off to sleep...


	12. Homecoming

Three days later, Riku was sitting up in his bed, waiting for his doctor to come. He would be signing the release papers so that Riku could go home. That's right. Today was the day that Riku would finally be released from the hospital. Riku was almost completely healed, but he still had a fever and fatigue. He still slept a lot. He refused to eat the hospital food and he considered asking his friends to sneak in some burritos, but he realized that he wasn't hungry. He mainly spent a lot of time either sleeping or watching TV, anyway.

There was a knock at the door and Riku turned to his left to see Dr. Thomas.

"Hello, Riku," he said, walking in with a clipboard in his hand. He sat in the chair next to the bed and began to shuffle through the papers on the clipboard. "The test results have come back and your body is not completely rid of the sickness, but you're getting much better. With some more treatment, you should be able to make a full recovery. I'm going to have a nurse come to your house every day for a week to administer an IV, and I will also prescribe medications. Are we clear, Riku?"

Riku nodded.

"Okay then!" said Dr. Thomas, looking up from the clipboard. "When your parents get here, you can leave. I've already signed the release papers."

"Alright, thanks Dr. Thomas!" said Riku, feeling extremely grateful.

Dr. Thomas smiled, stood up from the chair, adjusted his glasses, and walked out.

Riku sighed. He didn't know when his parents would be arriving. He hoped soon. In the meantime, Riku thought that he could watch TV for a little longer, but by then, he was sick of TV. It was always the same, boring old reruns with the shows that had their season finales and would not be having new ones until the fall. He hated all the new summer reality shows that were trying to grab ratings.

Right then, Mrs. Thompson poked her head into the room. "Riku?" she asked.

Riku turned to his left and saw his mother. "Hi, Mom," he said.

Mr. Thompson followed behind his wife. "You ready to go home?" he asked.

"YES!" Riku exclaimed excitedly. "Seriously! Take me home!"

"No, Riku, we figured that we'd let the hospital raise you from here on!" joked Mr. Thompson, in a sarcastic tone. "You're just too much work with the car and the teenage drama."

"Dad!" cried Riku.

"Now you know I'm joking, son!" said Mr. Thompson, ruffling Riku's hair. "Though there are times that I wish your mom had girls instead of boys. They're more easier to handle than you and Rep."

Mrs. Thompson shook her head. "Your sister tells me that raising girls is just as hard as it is to raise boys." she said, rummaging through a shopping bag. "She says that I have it easy, having only two boys instead of four girls who constantly want attention."

Riku sighed. He did agree that he didn't like attention that much from his parents. But since Rep was never home, Riku was constantly given attention and he was kind of spoiled, getting extra helpings of his mother's delicious lasagna and given money when asked (though he would have to work for it, later)

Mrs. Thompson pulled out some clothes from the bag and handed Riku a navy blue T-shirt, a pair of blue pajama pants with Spongebob Squarepants on them, and his black Chuck Taylor Converse shoes. "Here, we brought your clothes." she said. "You don't want to go home in those two hospital gowns, now would you?"

Riku laughed a small laugh. "Of course not!" he said. He pointed to the curtains surrounding half of the area. "Can you please close the curtain so I can change?"

Mrs. Thompson nodded. "Alright, but I have seen you-" she said.

"Mom!" cried Riku. He knew what she was going to say. Yes, she's seen him naked millions of times, but that was back when he was little and he didn't care. Now he's much older and he did care.

Mrs. Thompson laughed to herself and drew the curtains.

While Riku was changing, he heard the sound of shoes squeaking against the hospital floors. Riku immediately knew who the footsteps belonged to. They were Sora's. His shoes always squeaked when steps were being taken. Sora had apparently joined Riku's parents to help take Riku home.

"He's changing right now, Sora," said Mr. Thompson.

_So it is Sora_, thought Riku, pulling the shirt over his head. He already had the pants on. Riku felt so happy when he realized that he was wearing cotton. It was soft against his chest and back. The hospital gowns were uncomfortable and itchy. He would have worn the yellow vest and the pants, but he only wanted clothes that were simple and quick to put on, like his pajamas. Finally, he pulled his shoes on and then pulled the curtains. He looked around the room to not only see his parents and Sora, but Kairi was there, also.

"Alright, Riku, now you gotta stand up." coaxed Sora.

Riku nodded. He put his feet on the floor and stood up, but his legs felt so weak from being in bed for so long and not walking. They gave in and he nearly fell over, but Sora and Kairi both caught him.

"We've got you!" said Kairi. "I think you'll be needing a wheelchair."

Riku plopped back down on the bed. "Alright, send it over." he said, looking down at the floor and feeling humiliated. He certainly didn't feel like walking, but what he didn't like is that he was showing his friends that he was weak.

So, Sora left the room to get the wheelchair. Kairi turned to Riku. She noticed that Riku looked embarrassed.

"Hey, don't feel embarrassed, Riku." she said.

"I know, but I'm normally strong. I hate showing people I'm weak." Riku said, sadly.

"Don't worry, Riku," Kairi reassured. "I'm sure that when you make a full recovery, you can be able to do all the things you used to do and strengthen yourself. Remember that you normally go to the gym?"

"Oh man, I haven't been there in so long!" said Riku, remembering. "I'll bet that the guys there think I moved or something. Even worse, since I've been gone, I think I'll need to start lifting lighter weights."

"That reminds me," said Mrs. Thompson. "I ran into Mike over at the grocery store and I told him that you were sick and in the hospital. He said that he's very sorry and that he hopes you get well and come back soon."

"Yeah, because I'm not paying him!" joked Riku.

Everyone laughed. Mike was the guy who owned the gym Riku worked out in.

"But Riku, Mike said that he'll give you a week, no charge, when you come back." said Mrs. Thompson.

Right then, Sora walked in, wheeling in a wheelchair.

"Okay, Riku! Hop on!" said Sora, unfolding the chair.

Riku nodded. Kairi bent down a little so that Riku could wrap his arm around her for support. He stood up and so did Kairi. They took tiny steps to the chair.

"Easy..." he said under his breath.

He and Kairi finally got to the chair and Riku put his legs on the leg rests.

"To the outside world, my trusty chauffer!" Riku yelled, putting a fist up in the air. "Chop chop!"

"I'm not a chauffer!" Sora said. "I had to go through like four corridors and two elevators to get this wheelchair!"

"Sora," Kairi warned in an annoyed voice.

"I was just messing with him, Kai!" said Riku, trying to make sure a wouldn't break out between Sora and Kairi. "Can we go now?"

Mrs. Thompson picked up Mr. Moogy and stared at him.

"I remember the first time Mr. Moogy came to this hospital," she said. "Riku had just been born the very same day his father got him the moogle."

"I remember buying the moogles in the gift shop. But 'ol Moogy's been here numerous times since then." said Mr. Thompson. "Like the appenix surgery? And the time Riku broke his arm. Had to spend the night here."

Everyone walked out of the hospital room, in the corridors, on the elevators, until they finally reached the first floor. They walked out the automatic sliding doors and to the parking lot, where Riku's parents told them to wait while they got the car. A few minutes later, the SUV pulled over and Sora and Kairi helped Riku to the car while his mom took the wheelchair back to the security guard in charge of the wheelchairs. Then, everyone else piled in the car and Mr. Thompson drove off.

Riku asked for the windows to be rolled down so that he could feel the breeze hit his face and through his hair. Riku smiled as the cool wind blew his hair in different directions. It was a relief to feel fresh air against your face.

He began to feel sleepy as soon as they pulled into the driveway, where a Cadillac Escalade sat, gleaming in the sunlight.

"Hey, Riku. Wake up." said Sora as he shook Riku.

"What? I'm not asleep," Riku said with a yawn.

"You're resting your head on Kairi's shoulder." Sora pointed out.

Kairi gently moved Riku's head off her shoulder. "Come on, Riku. You're home!"

Riku looked up and saw his house. He smiled and began to unbuckle his seat belt.

Everyone got out of the car to find Rep standing at the front door. Ryo, Hurky, and Alexa weren't present. Too many people would be a little stressful on Riku, his mother had said.

"But Mom, I think I would enjoy having everyone else come see me home," Riku pointed out, walking into the house. His legs felt stronger as he walked more, but he was still holding on to Sora and Kairi for support.

"Well, they're already going to come later when it's a little less hectic." said Mrs. Thompson. "They're all out shopping for some supplies."

"Supplies?" Riku asked.

"You'll see," said Kairi. "They're planning something for you."

Meanwhile, at the grocery store, Alexa asked Ryo to go get her some chicken broth while she got the chicken.

"What's taking Ryo so long?" asked Hurky, putting some carrots and celery down in the grocery cart, which already had a package of butter, a small jar of garlic salt, and another small jar of dried minced garlic.

"I'm not sure." replied Alexa. Then, something occurred to her. "Oh no! I don't think Ryo knows what chicken broth is! They don't have it in her home world!"

"Or course I know what chicken broth is!" piped up a voice behind Hurky and Alexa, causing both of them to jump. Alexa turned around to see Ryo holding a small can of the liquid chicken. Alexa stared at the small can.

"Um, Ryo? I need a bigger can than that. Or at least a few more smaller cans," Alexa said.

Ryo turned around and walked away, grumbling about how long it took for her to find the can in the first place.

"Remember that this is for Riku!" Hurky called over to Ryo.

Back at Riku's house, Rep cleared his throat. "Hey Riku," he said in a mumbly voice.

Riku turned to Rep. "Hey Rep,"

Rep suddenly threw his arms around his brother. "I'm sorry, little bro," he whispered.

This took Riku by surprise. Rep would never, ever apologize for anything. He didn't apologize for running down Sora. He didn't apologize for all the other wrongdoings he's done to Riku in the past.

"Thanks," he said. Then, he walked over to the couch and sat down. He smiled. "Nice. Something comfy to sit on."

Mrs. Thompson went to the kitchen and got Riku a soda, but he just told his mom to take it away. "I'm not up for soda." he said. "Thanks anyway."

"So, how does it feel to be back home?" asked Sora with a grin on his face.

"Great!" Riku said happily. "I can't wait to go back to work and all that stuff!"

Suddenly, he yawned and rubbed his eyes.

"Tired, Riku?" Kairi asked in a gentle voice.

Riku nodded. "I hate to break this homecoming, but I need some rest." he said sleepily.

"You're not breaking up anything!" said Sora. "We want you to get better, and fast! So go to bed."

Riku smiled and ruffled Sora's hair. Sora fixed his hair back up. Sora hated it when Riku messed up his hair. It was already always messed up since it was spiky all the time. But today was an exception. Sora didn't want to be mean to Riku after all he had gone through.

Riku stood up and went upstairs, where he went inside his room. It had been cleaned a little bit, but Riku's possessions were left untouched.

"Alright!! My room!" he cried happily. He ran to his bed and jumped onto it. He kicked off his shoes and snuggled under the covers. Riku knew his blankets had been washed. There was the strong scent of fabric softener. He really missed that smell, but most of all, he missed the softness of his bed and blankets.

Sora walked in and tossed Mr. Moogy to him. "Forgetting something?" he asked.

Riku caught his stuffed moogle. "Thanks, man!" he said, and turned over on the other side, facing the window, closing his eyes and immediately drifted off to sleep.

Sora grinned. _Great to have you back_, he thought, and then left the room to join everyone else downstairs.

* * *

**Hurky: The story's not over yet!!!**

**Sora: There's more after this chapter!!! **

**Riku: SWEET!! I'M OUTTA THE HOSPITAL!!**

**Sora: And Hurk's got an announcement! She has officially started working on the first chapter of All That Randomness: Part 2!! It should by up in November.**


	13. Soup and the truth

A few hours later, Riku awoke to the sound of arguing coming all the way from the kitchen. Riku yawned, smoothed out his hair a little bit, got out of bed, and walked out of the room. Riku walked all the way downstairs, very slowly, and went to the kitchen. There, he found Hurky, Ryo, and Alexa standing in the kitchen, arguing with each other.

"You take it off the crock pot with oven mitts!" Alexa said to Hurky.

"Well, we think you should use pot holders!" Hurky said, crossing her arms.

"But Hurky, with the pot holders, you have a greater chance of burning yourself with-" Alexa protested until Riku cleared his throat.

All the girls turned to the doorway and saw Riku standing there. Ryo's mouth turned into a smile as she ran to Riku and threw her arms around him.

"RIKU!!" she screamed happily. "YOU'RE HOME!"

"Mup, mi mam!" Riku said through Ryo's muffled hug. He was saying, "Yup, I am!"

Hurky and Alexa, now with huge grins across their faces, all threw their arms around Riku. They were holding on for a good thirty seconds until Alexa said, "Uh, you guys? I think Riku needs some air!"

"Oh!" Ryo said, realizing she was suffocating Riku. "Sorry!"

They all let go and Hurky ushered Riku to the dining room, where she made him sit down.

"What's this all about?" he asked.

"We made you some soup, silly!" Ryo said. "Alexa made you some soup before you went into the hospital, but you didn't eat it and your mom had to throw it out. So, now that you're back, we made you some fresh soup and we want you to eat it!"

Riku smiled. "You guys didn't have to do that," he said. "Really!"

"But we wanted to!" said Hurky, setting down steaming bowls of the chicken soup on the table while Ryo put down some silverware and some napkins, and Alexa poured some lemonade into glasses. "Now sit down, eat, and shut up!"

Ryo smacked Hurky on the arm. Alexa put the glasses of lemonade on the table and then sat down. "Come on, guys, sit down!" she said to Hurky and Ryo.

The two each pulled a chair and sat down. Riku picked up a spoon and began to dig in. The soup tasted very good. He forgot how good Alexa's soup tasted. He once tried Hurky's older sister's soup when she came over to Hurky's house and made chicken noodle soup. She put so much pepper and parsley in it that it nearly burned his throat. There was a lot of water consumed that day. Everyone was trying to be nice and not say anything to Teri, but Hurky flat out told her sister the soup sucked. She just ate some more, smiled, and said, "What can I say? I'm addicted to pepper."

"This soup is WAY better than my sister's!" Hurky joked, wiping her mouth with a napkin.

"Anything is better than your sister's cooking!" Ryo joked, sipping on some of the liquid on her spoon. "I'll bet a moogle could cook better than her!"

"You know, it's not nice to make fun of someone who was nice enough to cook for us," Riku said quietly.

Hurky turned to Riku and gave him a WTF look. Riku would normally NEVER say something like that. He encourages making fun of other people and what they do.

"I know what you guys are thinking," Riku said, picking up his lemonade glass. "I normally make insults, but I think being sick made me think differently about things." Then, he took a sip from the glass.

Ryo nodded. Maybe this has changed Riku for better or for worse? Ryo didn't like it when Riku made a snide remark at someone and she wished he could get better at addressing people, but then she realized that she kind of missed it. Riku sometimes got his comedy from others' misfortune and making fools out of them.

"I think the fever fried your brain," said a voice identical to Riku's.

Everyone turned around to find Rep, standing in the doorway to the dining room. He walked in and sat down next to his brother.

"I've heard that fevers can mess up people's minds," Rep said. "I'm still doing some research on that. I think mainly it happens to young children."

Everyone was silent. The only sounds that were being made were the clinking of silverware against the porcelain bowls. Riku just pulled out a chair. "You wanna sit with us?" he asked.

Rep smiled. "Okay!" he said. He sat in the chair and pushed himself in.

Meanwhile, Sora and Kairi went over to the secret place, to meet someone. This mystery woman called both of them up and told them to meet her at the secret place. No one knew what was going on.

"Did she say who she was?" Kairi asked as she and Sora trudged through the sand.

Sora shook his head. "She asked us to come over to the secret place at five o'clock." he replied. "She wanted to tell us a few things."

Kairi snorted. "A few things?" she asked. "Anything specific?"

"No. She said to come together to the secret place." Sora replied. "How did she know about the secret place?"

Kairi shrugged and didn't say anything. They didn't say anything else until they got to the secret place. Sora crawled in, following Kairi. There, they found a woman wearing a long, white cloak. She was staring at the picture on the wall of Sora and Kairi that they had drawn, giving each other paopu fruits.

"Um, excuse me?" Kairi muttered.

The woman turned around and bowed her head respectively. "Sora, Kairi," she said.

"How do you know our names?" Sora demanded, clenching a fist.

"I know a lot of things." the woman said. "My name is Marxene Philips. My daughter is Larxene. She's number XII of the Organization XIII."

"We know who your daughter is!" Kairi interrupted, summoning her keyblade. Sora followed suit.

"Please," Marxene said, holding up her hands, showing she had no weapons. "Hear me out. I'm not against you. I want to tell you something about your friend Riku and his brother, Rep."

"Well, we know you're that old hag who messed them up!" Sora said, causing his keyblade to go away. Riku had told them about the evil potion he and Rep drank years ago.

"That's the thing I wanted to talk to you about." Marxene explained. "I did some research on that potion. I learned that it wears off. Even if Rep had taken a full dose, the evil it causes will fade. Rep is losing his evil."

"What about the smarts?" Kairi asked.

"That stays." Marxene continued. "Riku himself is smart, considering the fact that he only drank less than half. He was only evil for a short time a few years ago. That had faded, and now the evil in Rep is going away."

"Prove it!" Sora said. He didn't know whether to trust this woman. For all he knew, she could have been making things up. After all, her daughter _was_ a member of the Organization XIII.

"Near the end of Riku's time in the hospital, Rep was starting to worry about his brother." Marxene said. "He started doing odd jobs for extra money. He wants to surprise Riku with a video game. Something to do with a guitar. Recently, he has come to the realization of what he did."

Sora shrugged. He didn't know what else to say other than, "Well, Kairi and I have to go. We want to go see Riku,"

Marxene nodded. "I just wanted to get this information to you," she continued. She sighed and rubbed her eyes. "I feel terrible for what I did years ago. I don't know what came over me."

Sora and Kairi didn't say anything. They crawled out of the secret place and never looked back.


End file.
